What do I do if I received an error that my grading pattern is missing or out of date when I try to publish grades?

If a teacher tries to publish grades and receives an error that the grading pattern is missing or out of date, the Grade Manager needs to run the Update Grading Pattern process described on page 4 of the updated Grade Manager user guide.

How do I enter grades if I don't use percentages?

Pre-K, Kindergarten, and First Grade teachers have always entered a different grading scheme than higher grades. SchoolMAX does not directly allow you to enter that scheme in Gradebook. Instead use the following percentages to calculate your grades:

PR -- 80-100%

IP -- 60-79%

ND -- 0-59%

Once you publish your grades, they are converted automatically to the letter equivelent.

Why can't I get the _____ report to work?

Not all of the reports are fully functional at the present time. The IT Division and the creators of SchoolMAX are aware of the issue and are working as quickly as possible to correct it. In the mean time, there are a few things that may help you get the information you need:

When running an attendance report, make sure you are using the correct report. If the report does not specifically state that it is a Period attendance report, then in most instances, it is a Daily attendance report. Daily attendance reports do not work for a school that takes period by period attendance, and vice versa.

It is important to remember that SchoolMAX is used by many school systems. Some data fields do not apply to Prince George’s County Public Schools and should be left as the default selection ALL. Some of these data fields may be Track, House, Group, Program. Other data fields must be selected even though you are not necessarily familiar with the name. For example, even though PGCPS does not use the term Campus ID, you must select one for some reports or the School ID drop-down list is not populated. In situations such as this, there will only be one choice to select.

Some reports require that you set or change additional parameters not found on the main screen. At the bottom of the screen you may see a button marked Advanced Parameters. Some reports, such as the Teacher Class List with/without Census Report, require that you set the date on the Advanced Parameters page.

If you need to change the sorting order or page break of a particular report, you can do that by clicking the Sort Select button at the bottom of the page. On the Sort Select page, change the highest drop-down list to the data field you want to sort by first. To add or remove page breaks, select or clear the page break check box for that line.

Once you create a report, you may see an asterisk (*) next to the final page number. That means the total number of pages is not displayed. Click the forward arrow to see the complete page count.

When I try to enroll a student, I receive an error that the student dwelling is out of my school boundaries. I am certain the student dwelling is in my school boundaries. What do I do?

First, make sure that the Mailing address and the Dwelling address in SchoolMAX match. Locate the student's Household record. On the main page of the Household record, you see the Mailing address. But the Mailing address does not determine the boundries. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Dwelling History to see the Dwelling address. Then do one of the following:

If there is no Dwelling history, or if the Dwelling record appears as 11504 HOMESTEAD DR, UPPER MARLBORO (which is a stock address), note the Household number in the upper left corner of the screen, then go to Census > Dwelling Information. Search for the correct Dwelling address. Once you open the Dwelling record, click Household. Then click the Add Household button. Enter the Household number you noted to locate the correct Household. Continue with the rest of the Dwelling Transfer process as described in the Enrollment User Guide. The only exception is that you must also enter a Move Out date from the previous address.

If the most recent address in the Household Dwelling History is correct, and you have determined that the address should be in the school boundaries using the School Finder, request that your SIS School-based Support Contact submit this question to Pupil Accounting at pasb.boundaries@pgcps.org.

I clicked on a "Last Viewed" link and I received an error message. What do I do?

Click the BACKSPACE key (or the DELETE key on a Mac) on your keyboard to return to the search page and enter the search information, then click search.

When adding a new family member, I see the message "We're sorry, you have encountered a system error. Please contact customer support or the system administrator."

This error message is misleading and should be disregarded. In fact, the family member IS created. Proceeding to add the record a second time will result in duplicate records. The vendor is working to resolve this false error message.

When I try to enroll a student whose address is within my school boundaries, SIS cannot find the dwelling. What do I do?

When conducting searches, enter the minimum information required. Often, providing too many search criteria causes a record to be missed, even if it's in the SIS. For example, enter the house number and street name, but don't enter the city. When the search results are returned, you can select the correct dwelling from the list.

I receive an error when I try to log in. What do I do?

If you receive the error "We're sorry, you have encountered a system error", it is most likely a momentary connection problem. To fix it, click the Log In link and enter your username and password again.

If you receive an error such as "Login failure" or "Unknown User", make sure you are using the same username and password that you use to log in to your Windows computer. If you are sure you are using the correct username and password, contact the Help Desk.

I've experienced an error or problem while using SchoolMAX. To whom do I report it?

Central Office staff should contact the Help Desk. School-based staff should contact the school coordinator.

I can't find the _____ link in SchoolMAX! Help!

If you do not see a specific link for a tool such as Student Enrollment Wizard, this is most likely because you have not been granted access rights to use that tool. To get access, fax the SIS User Access Request form and allow 48 hours for processing.

Can the same computer be used by two different users?

Yes, as long as each user logs in and out separately with his/her individual username and password.

How can I add new codes or values to SchoolMAX?

Initially, Student Applications will create, modify, or delete SchoolMAX codes. These rights will transition to other offices as staff are more adept in the use of SchoolMAX and as business processes evolve.